A photo of a sign has been circulating the internet for the past couple of weeks, inspiring plenty of outrage from the very liberals its describing:

We used to hunt communists. Now we elect them.

Of course, Democrats and their constituents deny this simple truth. They claim to be all-American, patriotic, and pro-freedom, even as they pursue policies that carry us in the opposite direction. It’s no coincidence that the leader of the National Committee of the Communist Party USA said earlier this year that American Communists would continue to work with and promote the Democratic Party. Of course they will. As Chairman John Bachtell said, “Labor and other key social forces are not about to leave the Democratic Party anytime soon.” And he also noted his disdain for the other side.

While the Republican Party is led by the most reactionary sections of Wall Street capital including the energy extractive sector and the military industrial complex, it also consists of extreme right-wing elements including the Tea Party, white supremacists, social conservatives, right-wing evangelicals, climate deniers, anti-reproductive rights groups, etc.

Plenty of conservatives give lip service to the idea that President Obama is a Marxist, but the reality is that few really believe it. Even with all of the evidence staring them right in the face, they can’t bring themselves to believe that we put a Communist in the White House – not once, but twice. In fact, maybe we didn’t.

After all, who is it but the Democrats that are tirelessly fighting against any rules or regulations that would prevent voter fraud? Why would a party that supposedly stands for American ideals want to stand in the way of ensuring the integrity of our voter rolls? They’ve insisted that voter ID laws unjustly target blacks and Hispanics, but that argument only works if you believe that minorities are somehow incapable of obtaining ID. There are those who can’t obtain ID, of course. Dead people, illegal immigrants, the imprisoned, and so on. Who is it that the Democrats want voting on election day? Who is it, really, that voted Barack Obama into office?

Obama’s movement towards normalizing relations with Cuba should have been the alarm clock that awakened even the sleepiest Americans, but most have bought into the idea that anything is good as long as it’s progress. They believe that we’ll magically spread Democracy to Cuba, bringing them along with us into the 21st century. But that’s not what’s happening. Instead, we’re slowly becoming more and more like them. We’re giving the Internet over to the government. We’re taking steps toward a universal healthcare system. We’re watching as the EPA declares authority over every body of water in the country, no matter how small.

Communism, in every way, is antithetical to the notion of human freedom. It’s a venomous ideology that presents itself as a way to ensure equality for all, but in practice it has failed to achieve that lofty goal. Instead, it merely lowers the quality of life for everyone involved, except for those at the top of the food chain. That it is so easily confused with the modern idea of liberalism should be a wake-up call to anyone who calls themselves a Democrat.